Specialty Papers US 2017 Agenda Announced

Smithers Pira, TAPPI, and the advisory board are pleased to announce the Specialty Papers US 2017 agenda, featuring speakers from top industry companies such as Lenzing, Folia Water, Inc., VTT, Omya and more!

Taking place this September 19-21 in Milwaukee, WI, at the Pfister Hotel, this year's agenda will feature highlights including:

There are now 7 billion people on earth. Where are the raw materials going to come from to meet our needs and improve life for all of us?

2:00 pm

How to Talk to a Farmer

Co-presented: Straw Logic & Techfibre Industries

There is a whole new opportunity for farmers to consistently provide sustainable raw materials, and a whole new opportunity for pulp and paper companies to formulate their products using new feedstocks with interesting properties. In this presentation you will learn how this translates from the forest to the field. Follow Joe and Wade on this informative and sometimes humorous journey that will include an explanation of terminology, the needs and capabilities of farmers and pulp mills, and how the two can create a cohesive and beneficial relationship.

2:15 pm

Mechanical / Equipment Vendors/ Manufacturing

Wade Chute | President of Techfibre Industries

So you have a stack of bales. Now what?!? While still largely unfamiliar materials in the North American pulp and paper industry, straw bales are made, handled, stored and processed year-round in other industries. Learn about:

Which industries use straw (e.g. feedlots, cellulosic ethanol, pulp and paper, textiles), and what machinery they use to process it for their own needs.

Which companies manufacture machinery that can be used to feed a pulp mill.

Mark Lewis | President and CTO of Sustainable Fiber Technologies and CTO of Columbia Pulp of Columbia Pulp and Sustainable Fiber Technologies

3 biggest myths of non-wood fibers

Consistency of supply

Quality

Optional Biomass

As more companies are exploring the use of alternative fibers there is the potential for a wide use of biomass. This presentation gives the refiner response of a number of nonwood fiber sources as well as photomicrographs taken of some of these pulps. The Phoenix Process is an environmentally friendly process which uses 15% of the normal water that a kraft mill will, it has significantly less energy, and chemical consumption. Many good technical people think that nonwood fibers have poor properties. Thinking that without a comparison of pulping methods would be like comparing TMP softwood with kraft softwood pulp. Same species different results. This holds true with much of the poor dogma that exists in the nonwood pulp arena. This will take a bite out of all of those dogmas

3:15 pm

Networking Break

3:45 pm

Marketing your Product

Co-presented: Canopy & SCIN

Market support for papers made with agricultural residues as well as best practices for marketing papers made with these fibers

4:15 pm

Q&A With Workshop Speakers

4:30 pm

Closing Remarks

Day Two: September 20

Conference Registration & Exhibition Hall Open

8:00 am

Conference Registration & Exhibition Hall Open

9:00 am

Welcome

Ciaran Little, Director of Operations, Smithers PIRA

Sarah Lunceford, Division Manager, TAPPI

Session I: Market Overview and Trends in Specialty Papers

Moderator: Dr. Graham Moore, Consultant, Smithers Pira

9:15 am

How will the specialty paper sector fair in the next five years? A market view.

Dr. Graham Moore | Strategic Consultant of Smithers Pira

The speciality paper industry is continuing to change as fast as the end use markets are moving. This rapidly changing environment has the potential for many opportunities for specialty papermakers in new product development to satisfy new markets and end user needs. Such opportunities are arising from disruptive technologies and an increasingly ‘greener world’ where the ‘old rules’ on packaging materials and energy generation are changing.

This paper provides a view on the global market for speciality papers in 2017 and a forecast of the market in 2022 based on Smithers Pira’s latest market research in this sector. Market growth distribution has shifted in the past five years and the previously lack lustre growth markets of Western Europe and North America are recovering. China is the growth leader in most grades and is becoming the largest market. India is starting to be a force in speciality paper as economic development is accelerating.

The overall speciality market is healthy. Encouragingly, all product sectors are showing positive growth but there are significant differences in volume scale and growth rates between the segments. These will be explored further in the presentation.

9:45 am

Merging the Industry

The specialty paper industry has seen several mergers and consolidations in recent years, including Twin Rivers’ acquisition of Burrows and Dunn’s acquisition of several mills from Clearwater. Glatfelter has been in the forefront of the M&A activity, particularly in Europe, where it has added several niche specialty mills over the past decade, as well as adding a third business unit through M&A and subsequently expanding it with a greenfield manufacturing site in Arkansas. Corporate VP of Strategy, Samuel Hillard, will discuss Glatfelter’s aggressive path to success with specialty acquisitions, and why some mergers succeed while others fail.

10:15 am

Networking Break

11:00 am

Small Mill Perspective

Co-presenting: Barbara Ness & Bill Platt, New Indy

Barbara Ness, New Business Development, New Indy

Bill Platt, General Manager, New Indy

11:30 am

Insulation Papers

Scott Miller | Knauf Insulation of Director of Knauf University

A variety of large volume paper based laminates are used in the mineral fiber insulation industry as vapor retarder products. A review of constructions will be presented. In vapor retarder applications, paper is married to a variety of other materials to form a flexible composite necessary to form a vapor retarder in-situ for buildings and mechanical systems. Specific applications and criteria acceptance standards will be discussed as well as the industry trends that warrant greener solutions in product construction.

11:30 am

Restaurant Packaging Trends

12:00 pm

Networking Lunch

Session II: Innovations in Specialty Paper

Moderator: Dr. Graham Moore, Consultant, Smithers Pira

1:15 pm

Creation and Use of MFC for Specialty Papers

David Cowles | Business Manager, Nanotechnologies of GL&V USA Inc

The use of bio-based and renewable Microfibrillated Cellulose (MFC) offers a wide variety of benefits for the production of many paper grades including specialty papers. Internal addition or direct application of MFC to the sheet surface can greatly enhance paper properties.

In addition to the more traditional internal addition, a special applicator has been developed that can be positioned on the Fourdrinier. A liquid dispersion of MFC is forced out of a narrow slot in the applicator and falls as a full-width curtain onto the wet stock.

Cellulose Filament (CF) in Pulp and Paper Applications

Balázs Tolnai | General Manager Technology of Kruger Inc.

In 2013 a Strategic Alliance was formed between FPInnovations and Kruger Biomaterials Inc. to commercialize the Cellulose Filament (CF) technology. In March 2014 Kruger Biomaterials Inc. completed the construction of the plant in its Trois-Rivières mill, it was successfully started-up and commissioned and in a 12 month-long period the production rate was ramped up. Operating protocols were developed for the production of high quality CF. Currently the plant produces 6,000T/y of high quality CF.

In the past years several pulp and paper applications were tested, over 50 paper machine trials run and commercial CF containing paper grades developed. Parallel to the development in the pulp and paper field, non-traditional CF applications were also evaluated. This presentation will demonstrate how CF can be used in pulp and paper and non-traditional applications, with special focus on strengthening and light weighting.

2:15 pm

Technical Papers and Grade Development Possibilities

The quality of paper is usually controlled by using the appropriate pulp grade and auxiliary materials together with selecting the required process settings like the level of refining. However, there are more and more applications where specific paper properties are required. For such specialty papers the blend of pulp and fibers of natural or man-made origin are needed to achieve the desired properties. In this respect lyocell fibers (Lenzing brand name TENCEL®) show useful properties.

Lyocell fibers are produced in diameters from 9-30 microns and are cut to the desired length. As lyocell fibers consist of 100% pulp these fibers mix very well with pulp and can be processed with existing technologies.

The fibrillar structure of Lyocell offers opportunities for researchers and engineers to design fibres with new features to meet specific technical requirements. One of its well-known and still sometimes undervalued properties is its fibrillation tendency, the ability that fibrillar parts peel off from the fibre surface under mechanical stress in water.

In this presentation application of Lyocell fibers for specialty papers will be presented.

2:45 pm

Impact of Northern Softwood Kraft Pulps on the Properties of Packaging Papers

Northern Softwood kraft pulps are known for their high strength and quality. The unique growing conditions and fibre management practices of the Canadian forest industry ensure that these pulps have some of the longest, finest fibres in world. Extensible papers made with these pulps are denser, smoother and up to 15% stronger than similar grades made with coarser fibres. Superior strength attributes of papers made from these pulps can be used to reduce fibre costs by using lower grammage papers or by reducing plies in packaging products.

Papers made from long, fine fibred Kraft pulps are superior in quality over papers made from coarser Kraft pulps

This superior quality is used to reduce costs by using lower grammage papers and reducing ply number in packing products

3:15 pm

Networking Break and Coffee

3:45 pm

Paper for Pennies, Water for Billions

Folia Filters™ kill waterborne pathogens at a price that is affordable to even those who make $1-10/day. Our filter papers are designed to fit into either a regular plastic funnel or our Keystone Funnel™. The Keystone Funnel™ allows users to walk away and leave a 2 liter bottle of dirty water to drain through a Folia Filter into any household water container including a soda bottle or jerry can. The Keystone Funnel is designed to be simple to use, effective, and culturally appropriate, minimizing customers' setup time and not requiring them to buy a special water bottle.

Currently, Folia Water is scaling up paper production, manufacturing operations, and exploring new product features.

4:15 pm

Forget Defoamers - Foam Form your Products

Foam forming will lead to a new manufacturing platform for fibre based products. It enables production of high porosity and lightweight. Companies can use it to manufacture products with unique structural properties and to develop totally new products by utilizing traditionally challenging raw materials from nanoparticles to long fibres. This presentation gives an overview on the current status and discusses some of the latest result and their benefits to specialty paper makers.

Session III: Packaging Innovations

Moderator: Dr. Graham Moore, Consultant, Smithers Pira

4:45 pm

Flexible Oil and Grease Resistant Packaging Paper

John Tucker | Sales Director of Zanders GmbH, Germany

Zanders‘ journey to a customer- and market-oriented company

Fast changing and emerging markets as a chance, not a threat

New flexible packaging papers, new technologies, new clients

5:15 pm

Printed Susceptors for Microwave Packaging

Lyne Cormier, ing., PhD | Research Leader of FP Innovations

Active microwave packaging is a class of microwaveable food containers, including bags and boxes that use microwave-interactive materials (susceptors) to enhance heating/cooking performance. Susceptor packaging is a growing segment (CAGR: 4.3%) with the US market size expected to reach $285 million by 2020. Commercial susceptors made of metallized plastic films are currently being used, but the market is also looking for low-cost and safe alternatives, that would eliminate the use of plastics and metals. To address this, FPInnovations has developed a technology (patent pending) that consists in printing carbon-based ink onto cellulose-based substrates to produce susceptors that can match the heating performance of existing suceptors, but with lower cost and improved sustainability. This technology has been successfully tested in the laboratory and was also demonstrated on a commercial printing press.

Through a case study (popcorn bag), the presentation will describe the approach used and the technical problems solved. The advantages and challenges of the technology will be discussed as well as outlining the proposed path forward for bringing this technology to market.

Panel: Sustainability Innovations and Challenges within the Specialty Paper Market

Special Delivery! Fresh Food and Sustainable Packaging

Gustavo Gonzalez | Production Manager of Blue Apron

As the demand for meal delivery programs continues to increase, so does the need for innovative and sustainable packaging solutions that support the goals of maintaining food quality while reducing waste. In order to realize these goals, Blue Apron has worked hard to research sustainable packaging methods that transcend the traditional “paper or plastic” and have allowed us to continue to deliver fresh ingredients in a timely responsible manner.

10:30 am

Networking Break

Session V: Barrier Developments for Specialty Papers

Moderator: Kelly Helein, Vice President- Sales, Coveris

11:00 am

Barrier Coatings for a Changing Market

Steve Ottone | Technical Service Manager of Omya Inc.

Replacement of wax in corrugated structures has been the traditional end use for the majority of aqueous barrier coatings. Application of these materials has centered on converters; who could cost effectively make the short runs required for the wide variety of different applications.

The market for barrier packaging is changing to one with a range of end uses going far beyond corrugated. To meet these needs, there is a continuing call for alternatives not only to wax, but also to extruded poly and fluorocarbons. There is keen interest by both printers and paper mills in products that fit their existing equipment. Yet, to date, introduction of water based solutions has been limited by a complex set of requirements around market dynamics, barrier, and runnability.

In this presentation, we will discuss the changing market, the requirements of barrier coatings that fit the new model, and some solutions.

11:30 am

The Role of Base Paper on Barrier and Convertability Properties of Water Based Barrier Coated (WBBC) Paper

Ilkka Tamminen | Technical Sales of FP-Pigments

Water based barrier coatings (WBBC) have been studied intensively during the past years in order to replace the traditional barrier materials. One of the largest challenges for these WBBC’s has been a high risk for pinholes originating from the base substrate leading into discontinuity in the dispersion layer and poorer barrier properties. By increasing the coat weight, the amount of pinholes can be reduced but this may lead into economical and quality issues, thus optimization is needed.

In this study, the role of base substrate variables in dispersion coverage and in the received barrier properties was investigated by studying commercial base paper substrates. Also the effect of how the dispersion film coverage and surface structure influences convertibility of dispersion coated packaging materials was examined. The base paper surface structure was also modified by pre-coating, both with blade and rod coating, and the effect on barrier coverage and properties was studied.

The results showed that base substrate plays a key role when WBBC’s are used. If the structure of the base paper is very open or very rough, gaining good barrier properties is difficult and the amount of pinholes increases which affects most significantly grease resistance. With very porous and rough base material best possible barrier properties at certain total coat weight were reached by double coating and by using pigments with high aspect ratio. The base paper structure had also large impact on the convertibility properties, for example creasability, of barrier coated paper.

12:00 pm

Networking Lunch

Session VI: Specialty Paper Coatings

Moderator: Kelly Helein, Vice President- Sales, Coveris

1:30 pm

New Advances in Specialty Coatings and Processes

Mike Browne | Brand Manager of Sappi North America

Produced by processing woodfibre down to the smallest fibre component, nanocellulose was developed during the 1980s, but was not successfully commercialised because of the energy intensive production process involved. Sappi's patented process does not require significant energy inputs and allows nanocellulose to be dried and re-dispersed without compromising fibril width. There is on-going investigation into a broad range of applications including significant opportunities for packaging and specialty grades.

2:00 pm

Functional Coatings for Flexible Packaging Applications

Kaitlin Rosen | Senior Chemist of The Dow Chemical Company

The role of product packaging is multifaceted, as the packaging material itself can impart aesthetic appeal, barrier properties, heat seal or gluability options, and sustainability properties to the overall product. The Dow Chemical Company has developed materials that can impart matte, gloss, or high brightness finishes to a variety of surfaces, and the use of such materials in the area of paper-based packaging can allow optimization of the appearance of products on store shelves. Polymers designed to allow high print image quality or those targeted to provide heat sealability can allow customized packaging designs. For packages with higher demands for grease resistance, fluorocarbon-free barrier coatings have been designed. Growing industry demand for repulpable paper packaging solutions has driven our research efforts toward testing and optimization of repulpable barrier coatings for paper and paperboard.

Session VII: Printing Innovations for Specialty Papers

James Atkinson | PhD Candidate/Part-time Instructor of Western Michigan University

Printed electronics (PE) are being developed as an alternative to traditional electronics due to the more efficient use of materials and lower cost of production. The overall goal of this study was to understand how metallic pigments in conductive inks in PE are partitioned during landfill disposal and paper recycling conditions. The purpose is to assess the potential environmental impacts of PE landfilling in terms of metal leaching and to help provide new strategies for sequestering metallic ink components while paper-based PE are subjected to conventional paper recycling methods. The objective of this research is to study the fate of PE metallic pigments by conducting research that will analyze the characteristics of the partitioning of the metals in the recycled papermaking system, the potential leaching characteristics of the inks, and the ink film characteristics on paper that will help to speculate about whether or not the metallic pigments can removed from the paper fibers. Three studies were conducted to address each of these specific objectives In the first study, three conductive inks used to create PE - nickel, silver flake and nanoparticle inks were printed on label paper substrates simulating PE materials, which were then pulped and screened in bench-scale experiments. Accepts, rejects, and wastewater streams were collected and analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) to measure the metal concentrations in each stream and create a material balance around the pulping and screening process. Results showed that the nickel and silver flake inks appeared to travel in a larger proportion with the “accepts” stream, while the silver nanoparticle mostly partitioned to the wastewater stream. The second study conducted a landfill simulation experiments to evaluate the potential leaching of metal pigments from polymer and paper based PE while subjected to landfilling conditions using EPA methods 1311 and SW 846. Results show that nickel ink used could potentially form hazardous leachate if landfilled in large quantities, because it crossed 5 parts per million in the leachate. The two silver inks did not cross 5 parts per million threshold named in the TCLP test and do not pose a leaching potential in a landfill. The third study involved a qualitative assessment of nickel and silver conductive ink penetration and adsorption/absorption characteristics in paper substrates using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). From these microscopic observations, we can speculate about the potential ease or difficulty of removal and recovery of these pigments from the paper fibers during recycling. Results showed that nickel and silver flake inks do not penetrate the fiber pores and are mostly concentrated in the paper substrate surface, but the silver nanoparticle pigments have penetrated further into the sheet and also into the pores of the fibers themselves. Based on these observations, it is likely that nickel and silver flake inks can be removed and recovered more easily than the silver nanoparticle ink. This research shows PE could provide papermakers with an opportunity to innovate their process and potentially create a revenue stream by recovering metallic pigments.

3:30 pm

Paper for High Speed Inkjet Printing

Eastman Kodak Company

Production Inkjet has been implement in the transactional and direct mail markets for about a decade now. During this time the market has learned how to utilize this technology for more than just short runs – like mass customization and decreased inventory. Come see what’s next for the production inkjet market and how we are moving into packaging and how the paper industry can be ready!